Apparatus for adjusting the relative inclination of two members

ABSTRACT

A method is provided for adjusting orientation of the head of a machine tool with respect to the worktable thereof. A first bullseye level, mounted on an adjustable platform, is leveled upon a known surface by using the platform adjustments and then placed upon the worktable. Next a second bullseye level which is suspended from a shaft on a platform perpendicular thereto is grasped by the chuck of the machine tool head by means of the shaft. The adjustable machine tool head is then adjusted to that second bullseye level indicates a reading identical to the first bullseye level. Thus, the head and the work table of the machine are rapidly brought into a perfectly perpendicular alignment.

United States Patent [191 Andersen APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING THE RELATIVEINCLINATION OF TWO MEMBERS [76] Inventor: Harold A. Andersen, 627 MonroeSt., Gretna, La. 70053 22 Filed: Mar. 23, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 127,329

[52] US. Cl 33/370, 33/185, 33/333 [51] Int. Cl. B27g 23/00 [58] Fieldof Search 33/185, 181 R, 180 R, 33/212 R, 212 A, 207, 69

l 56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 864,575 4/1961 Great Britain 33/207 PrimaryExaminer-William D. Martin, Jr. Attorney-Cushman, Darby & Cushman [5 7]ABSTRACT A method is provided for adjusting orientation of the head of amachine tool with respect to the worktable thereof. A first bullseyelevel, mounted on an adjustable platform, is leveled 11 5i"; knownsurface by using the platform adjustments and then placed upon theworktable. Next a second bullseye level which is suspended from a shafton a platform perpendicular thereto is grasped by the chuck of themachine tool head by means of the shaft. The adjustable machine toolhead is then adjusted to that second bullseye level indicates a readingidentical to the first bullseye level. Thus, the head and the work tableof the machine are rapidly brought into a perfectly perpendicularalignment.

1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED 91w 3.763.570

SHEET 1. BF 2 INVENTOR "Z8 flWaM/Qi/YMIZIM ATTORNEY 5' PAIENIED v3.763.570 v SHEEIEHFZ A ORNEYS APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING THE RELATIVEINCLINATION OF TWO MEMBERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of theInvention This invention relates to machine tools having adjustableheads, and more specifically, apparatus or methods for adjusting theinclination of the adjustable heads with respect to the worktable.

2. Description of the Prior Art Machine tools having adjustable headsand fixed worktables which rest upon the floor of machine shops are wellknown. By the use of various attachments such machine tools can be usedfor vertical and horizontal milling, drilling, boring, straddle and cammilling, drilling, profiling, reaming, slotting, and other machingoperations. Typically, such adjustable heads may be rotated about theirtransverse as well as their longitudinal axes to provide two degrees offreedom for aligning the head with respect to the worktable.

In certain machining operations, it is necessary to have the headperfectly square, i.e., perpendicular with respect to the worktable.Furthermore, this problem is aggravated when the spindle hasbeen rotatedabout its transverse or longitudinal axes to provide machining at agiven angle and then it is desired to return the head to a perfectsquare with respect to the table.

Known machine tools utilize graduations on the head to indicate thedegree of tilt of their heads in both the transverse and longitudinalaxis. However, these graduations, while close enough for normal milling,are not close enough for precise boring and similar work. The prior arthas attempted to solve this problem by the provision of an indicatorwhich comprises a pair displacement indicating devices. These deviceseach indicate the displacement of point which depend therefrom. Thedisplacement indicating devices are attached to a horizontally disposedarm from which a vertically disposed shaft extends upward parallel tothe points. The vertically disposed shaft is, in turn, inserted withinthe head of the machine and grasped in the chuck and the points of theindicating devices are placed on the worktable along the transverse axisof the head. The head is then adjusted so that each of the displacementindicating devices indicates an equal amount. At this time the chuck isloosened and the displacement indicating devices ae then rotated abouttheir axis so that they follow the longitudinal axis of the spindle.This method has a disadvantage that it must be repeated in both thetransverse and longitudinal axis of the head. In addition, the apparatusused in this method is a hypersensitive and rather expensive instrument.

A much simpler leveling device is known to the prior art; namely, thebullseye level. In the bullseye level a single air bubble is trappedwith inner fluid beneath a semispherical surface of a transparentmaterial. Longitudinal and latitudinal lines are formed upon the surfaceto indicate the tilt of the level in any direction. Obviously it wouldbe useful to replace the complex and expensive device used in the priorart with a bullseye type of level device, however, the prior art onlyused such a bullseye level to level a single member.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the disadvantages discussed above,it is the object of the applicants invention to provide a method forleveling the head of a machine tool with respect to a table thereofwhich utilizes relatively inexpensive instrumentation. Further, it isanother object of the applicants invention to provide a method forrelatively inclining the head and worktable of a machine tool whichrequires a small number of steps and thus a small amount of time.

In applicants invention, a bullseye type level is placed upon a levelplane and is adjusted with respect thereto to provide a zero reading.This level is then placed upon a worktable. A second bullseye level ismounted upon a platform which depends from a shaft which is perfectlyperpendicular with the platform. The shaft is inserted within the chuckportion of the machine tool and the machine tool head is then adjustedin each of its degrees of freedom, i.e., along its transverse and itslongitudinal axes, to produce a reading upon the second bullseye equalto the reading of the first bullseye level. The machine tool head andthe table then perfectly perpendicular or, in other words, the head isperfectly square with the table. As should be apparent, the applicantsinvention is applicable to situations other than described above and, infact, is applicable to any situation wherein it is desired to relativelyincline a first and second member which are relatively movable withrespect to one another.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. l is a side view of aconventional machine tool,

FIG. 2 is a front view of the machine tool shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a side view of the shaft mounted level indicating means usedin the invention,

FIG. 4 is a top view of the shaft mounted level indicating means of FIG.3,

FIG. 5 is a top view of the table mounted indicating means in theinvention, and

FIG. 6 is a side view of the table mounted indicating means of FIG. 5.

The same reference numerals indicate the same elements throughout.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIG. 1 aconventional machine tool is indicated generally by reference numeral10. The machine tool comprises in part a worktable 12, which issupported on the base 14, parallel thereto. The machine also includes aturret head 16 upon which is mounted a motor 18 and a spindle 20 whichincludes a chuck 22 (not shown) for grasping a variety of milling,drilling, boring, reaming, and other tools. The various tools are drivenby motor 18 through the variable belt transmission 23 of which only belt24 is shown.

The worktable 12 may be adjusted vertically by crank 28 or left andright with respect to the machine by crank 30 and toward or away fromthe machine by crank 32. In addition, the spindle 20 may be moved towardand away from the worktable by means of quickly adjusting handle 34 orhand feed wheel 36.

More important to the present invention is the fact that the turret headmay be rotated about pivot point 38 to, for example, the position shownin FIG. 1 in dashed lines, by adjusting the vertical adjusting wormshaft 40 which is connected to a vertically adjusted worm gear 42 (notshown) which engages the head. Scale 44 shows roughly the degree ofpivot of point 38. In addition, the turret head 16 may be rotated aboutthe ring 45 to, for example, the positions shown in dashed lines in FIG.2, by the means of the adjusting worm shaft 46 which is, in turn,connected to a worm 48 (not shown). The angle of the turret head withrespect to a line perpendicular to the worktable is then indicated by ascale printed upon a ring and the pointer on the head.

FlGS. l and 2 indicate in solid lines the normal perpendicular positionoff the head with respect to the table and dashed lines indicateexamples of the angularly displaced head positions which are possiblewith the doubly pivotable turret head 16 turret head 16.

Also shown in FIG. 1 is the apparatus employed in the present inventionfor orienting the head with respect to the table. Reference numeral 52refers to a bullseye level mounted on a shaft which extends from thespindle of the turret head- 16 and is grasped in the chuck 24 thereof.Similarly, reference numeral 54 refers to bullseye level mounted on aseparate adjustable platform which rests upon the worktable 12.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the shaft mounted bullseye level 52 will nowbe discussed in greater detail. Reference numeral 56 refers to a shaftwhich is properly sized for reception in and grasping by chuck 24 of astandard machine tool. For instance, the shaft may be a cylinder of inchin diameter. Depending from the shaft and affixed thereto are four arcshaped arms 58 which support the circular platform 60 in a mannerperfectly perpendicular to the center line of the shaft 56. The platformis connected to the arms 58 by bolts 59 the threads of which arereceived within countersunk portions of platforms 60. The arms 58 andthe platform 60, as well as the shaft 56, are made of substantiallyrigid material to avoid distortion and to provide a rigid support forthe bullseye level 62. As is best seen in FlG. 3, the bullseye level 62comprises a series of concentric circles, having as their common axisthe center line of the platform 60, as well as a plurality of radiallines which meet at the axis of the two concentric circles. As is wellknown as with respect to bullseye levels the single bubble 64 isentrapped within a liquid which is, in turn, encased within the bullseyelevel. The position of the bubble 64 then with respect to concentricrings and radial lines indicates the position of the bullseye level withrespect to a horizontal plane. Since the platform 60 and the bullseyelevel 62 are perfectly perpendicular to shaft 56 the position of thebubble 64 also indicates whether the shaft 56 is perpendicular to thehorizontal plane.

Turning now to FIGS. 5 and 6 it is seen that a bullseye level 66 isprovided therein which is identical in all respects to the level 62 andthis level includes a bubble 68 which corresponds to the bubble 64 ofbullseye level 62. The bullseye level 66 is supported upon a platform 70which is, in turn, supported by the legs 72 as is apparent in FIG. 7.The feet 74 of the legs 72 contain threaded screws 76 which are locatedat threaded holes 78 within the feet. The level 66 may be adjusted byplacing the screw 76 upon a surface 80 which is known to be level andadjusting the screws 76 until the bubble 68 is directly in the center ofthe bullseye level 66. At this time, the set screws 82 which extend intothe feed 74 are tightened into contact with the screws 76 to lock thescrews 76 into the correct position.

When it is desired to level the head 16 with respect to the worktable 12the platform 70 is placed upon the worktable 12. Since the bullseyelevel 66 indicates an inclination of the worktable 12 in any direction,the inclination of the screws 76 on the table 12, are not im portant solong as the screws rest upon level surface of the table. If the machinetool 10 is placed upon a perfectly level surface and if base 14 isperfectly parallel to the worktable 12 then the bubble 68 should beperfectly centered within the bullseye level 66 since, as has beendescribed above, this is the position that bubble 68 occupies toindicate an inclination parallel to the horizontal plane. If, however,as is the case perhaps percent of machine tool environments, theworktable 12 is not parallel to the horizontal plane, bubble 68 willindicate the degree and direction of inclination. To perfectly align thehead 16 with respect to the table 12 all that must then be done is toinsert the shaft 56 into the chuck 24 of the drill 22 and to tighten thechuck to grasp the shaft. The turret head 16 is then adjusted by theadjusting worm shafts 40 and 46 described above until the bubble 64 isgiven an inclination identical to bubble 68. It is thus seen that aconvenient and practically foolproof apparatus and method is providedfor aligning the head of a machine tool with respect to its worktablewhich, furthermore, requires no complicated indicators but merelyrelatively inexpensive bullseye levels.

While the above description fully cover the preferred embodiment of theapplicants invention, it should be apparent to one skilled in the artthat many modifications may be made within the scope of the applicantsinvention. Obviously, particular shape means for supporting bullseyelevel 62 and 66 may vary markedly from that described above.

More importantly, while the above description has been confined tomachine tools, the method described above and the apparatus utilized incarrying out that method may be used to align any two members. Further,while bullseye levels have been shown above, these levels could be fullyreplaced by cylindrical levels arranged in right angular relations togive readings in perpendicular directions or cylindrical levels alonecould be used if the first member has but one degree of freedom withrespect to the second member.

Finally, the various means may be employed to fix the bullseye levels totheir respective platforms.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus including a turret head having a spindle, saidspindle having grasping means, said turret head being mounted formovement about a plurality of axes, a work table located in spacedvertical relationship with said spindle on said turret head, saidapparatus having means for precisely adjusting the relative inclinationbetween said spindle and turret head and said work table, theimprovement comprising a first level indicating means including aplatfonn having an upper surface and a lower surface a plurality of armsextending from said upper surface and converging substantially above thecenter of said platform, said arms being connected to a shaft, saidshaft extending substantially perpendicularly with respect to saidplatform, said shaft being adapted to be grasped by said grasping meanson said spindle, said platform including a bulls-eye level carriedthereon so that when said shaft is grasped by said grasping means onsaid spindle, the inclination of said turret head and said worktablewith respect to a reference plane will be indicated, a second levelindicating means including a platform having a plurality of support legsextending therefrom, said support legs having contact ends all of whichare adjustable to lie in the same plane, said platform of said secondindicating means having a bullseye level located at its center so that,when said second indicating means is placed on said work table, therelative inclination between said

1. In an apparatus including a turret head having a spindle, saidspindle having grasping means, said turret head being mounted formovement about a plurality of axes, a work table located in spacedvertical relationship with said spindle on said turret head, saidapparatus having means for precisely adjusting the relative inclinationbetween said spindle and turret head and said work table, theimprovement comprising a first level indicating means including aplatform having an upper surface and a lower surface a plurality of armsextending from said upper surface and converging substantially above thecenter of said platform, said arms being connected to a shaft, saidshaft extending substantially perpendicularly with respect to saidplatform, said shaft being adapted to be grasped by said grasping meanson said spindle, said platform including a bulls-eye level carriedthereon so that when said shaft is grasped by said grasping means onsaid spindle, the inclination of said turret head and said worktablewith respect to a reference plane will be indicated, a second levelindicating means including a platform having a plurality of support legsextending therefrom, said support legs having contact ends all of whichare adjustable to lie in the same plane, said platform of said secondindicating means having a bullseye level located at its center so that,when said second indicating means is placed on said work table, therelative inclination between said turret head and said spindle may bedetermined by comparing the indications of said first and second levelindicating means.